Imogen Bailey

Imogen Bailey
Born 7 July 1977
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Occupation Model, actress, singer
Known for Neighbours character Nicola West

Imogen Bailey (born 7 July 1977, Canberra) is an Australian model, actress and singer. As a model she has been featured on the cover of men's magazines, including Ralph, FHM, Black+White and Australian Playboy. On TV Bailey has appeared in various reality shows, Celebrity Big Brother (July-August 2002), Skating on Thin Ice (2005), and Celebrity Survivor (2006), which was set in Vanuatu. In 2008 she portrayed Nicola West on Australian TV soap opera, Neighbours for six months. As a singer her vocals were featured on the 2003 single "If U Want Me" by United Kingdom dance musician, Michael Woods. It peaked at No. 46 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on the component, UK dance chart; No. 62 on the ARIA Singles Chart and No. 5 on its Dance Charts. In August 2012 Bailey participated in the second season of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) TV documentary series, Go Back to Where You Came From. She is an advocate for animal rights and has worked on many People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaigns. Bailey also supports efforts to dispel myths about asylum seekers in Australia. She shares her home base between Sydney and Los Angeles.

Biography

Early years

Imogen Bailey was born on 7 July 1977 in Canberra.[1][2] For her primary school years she lived in the Pambula region, initially on a farm and later in a milk bar in town.[1][3] At nine years old one of her poems was published in the local newspaper in nearby Merimbula.[1] For secondary education she attended Melrose High School in Pearce and then Phillip College in Canberra.[4] She attended a TAFE institute and studied marketing.[3][5]

Career

Modelling

Bailey started her modelling career in the late 1990s, initially photographed for advertisements in fashion magazines, she prepared self-published calendars from 2000 starting with "Imogen Odessey 2000".[3][6] As a sports model, in January 2001, she appeared in Inside Sport.[7] She appeared in bikinis for men's magazines, including in Ralph, FHM Australia, Black+White .[4][5][8]

She noted that the entertainment industry tended to typecast models: "For me the girl I am in a photo shoot is a character that is portrayed by me for the shoot. If I am doing a sexy shoot then I play the sexy model. Now the problem comes when you want to cross over into other avenues in the industry such as singing or acting and people in the industry see you as just 'sexy'".[5]

Television

In August 2001 Bailey appeared as Carmen Jefferson for one episode of TV soap opera, Home and Away.[3] She has also appeared in several reality shows including Celebrity Big Brother (July-August 2002),[9] Skating on Thin Ice (2005),[4] and Celebrity Survivor (2006),[10] which was set in Vanuatu in the South Pacific.[11]

From January 2008 for six months Bailey portrayed Nicola West on TV soap opera, Neighbours. The character made her popular with a wider young female audience in Australia. In the series, Nicola is Miranda Parker's younger sister, the character was involved in controversial story lines including an incestuous relationship with an adoptive nephew, Riley Parker.[12]

In August 2012 Bailey participated in the second season of the TV documentary series, Go Back to Where You Came From, on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).[13][14]

Music

Bailey's vocals were featured on the 2003 single "If U Want Me" by United Kingdom dance musician, Michael Woods. It peaked at No. 46 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on the component, UK dance chart.[15] It peaked at No. 62 on the ARIA Singles Chart, No. 5 on its Dance Charts, and No. 2 on its Hitseekers Chart.[16]

In that year she also featured on Supafly's cover version of Prince's "Erotic City".[17] After Hurricane Katrina (August 2005) she provided a track, "Force of Nature", for a charity album by various artists, Hurricane Healing.US: Music That Heals, Vol. 1 (2005).[17][18]

Activism and charity work

The Hot Potato

Imogen Bailey and Mark Seymour for Hot Potato in 2013

In 2013, Bailey joined John Jarratt and Hunters & Collectors front man Mark Seymour to change thinking on asylum seekers. Bailey became the face of the Hot Potato Campaign, which tackled the issue by visiting ten rural towns in ten days, speaking to people using an ice-breaker of a free hot potato meal. The campaign hoped to dispel myths about asylum seekers which persist in Australia.[19]

Animal rights

Bailey is outspoken on the subject of animal rights and has lent her likeness to many People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaigns.[2] In February 2007 appeared caged in a makeshift cramped enclosure as part of a campaign for the Human Battery Cage: to highlight "the inhuman practice of chicken battery farming".[20] She told the media that "People expect Australia to be leading the world in animal welfare. There is no excuse for the way they are treated, there are always alternatives".[20] The rights to sit in the cage with Bailey and Lindsay McDougall (guitarist for Australian punk band Frenzal Rhomb), were auctioned off on eBay by Animal Liberation.[21] In December that year Bailey launched a website, imforanimals.com, which focused on drawing attention to the abuse and cruelty towards animals.[22]

Personal life

At 16-years-old Bailey left her family home in Canberra, she moved to Sydney and started a personal relationship with an older man, Ahmed, a Lebanse-Australian and practising Muslim.[3] On the SBS series, Go Back to Where You Came From (August 2012), she revealed that he was her partner for eight years.[4] When staying with his family she regularly wore a hijab, and sometimes a burqa:[3][4]

"She was a bikini model by day who read the Koran by night. She fasted during Ramadan and even, on occasion, wore a burqa".[4][13] Their relationship ended prior to 2001 as she focussed on modelling,[23]

In September 2008 Bailey revealed she had had anorexia nervosa, in an interview with UK magazine, NOW: "I went through a minor, but still not very good, anorexic stage and actually got down to less than 40 kg".[24] Her weight loss occurred over about a year from 2000 to 2001 and was influenced by "being surrounded by other anorexics and the stress of a break-up from an unfaithful boyfriend".[25] Family and friends intervened and she sought assistance for her condition.[25]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Man-Thing Sarah
2005 Feed Veronica
2007 Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest Princess Chamsous Sabah English dub
2008 Neighbours Nicola West 88 episodes
2009 Life of Riley Ella Season 1, episode 1: "In the Family Way"
2009 The 7th Hunt Ariel Clarke
2011 Chinese Takeout Hazel Crow

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Imogen Bailey's Biography". Imogen Bailey Official Website. Archived from the original on 8 July 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Activist gives animal rights model treatment". The New Zealand Herald. Australian Associated Press (AAP). 9 June 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Günsberg, Osher (15 September 2014). "Episode 51: Imogen Bailey on modelling, sexuality, and living as a Muslim". The Osher Günsberg Podcast. Retrieved 6 October 2014. Note: user may have to download an mp3 file for the full podcast.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Doherty, Megan (31 August 2012). "Bikini babe reveals her political side". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Bester, Hayley. "Imogen Bailey". ReachOut.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Kate (21 February 2009). "Interview: Imogen Bailey". Neighbours: The Perfect Blend. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Dillon, Richard (January 2001). "The Body Mechanic". Inside Sport. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Edd. "Imogen Bailey". Neighbours: The Perfect Blend. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Dylan Lewis wins Celebrity Big Brother". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Australian Associated Press (AAP). 13 August 2002. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  10. ↑ Casey, Marcus (7 May 2008). "Imogen Bailey talks about the Neighbours learning curve". The Herald Sun (News Corp Australia). Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Celebs to survive on 7". The Herald Sun (News Corp Australia). 29 May 2006. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "Soaps – News – Bikini model joins Neighbours cast". Digital Spy. 27 January 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Profile, Go Back to Where You Came From, SBS
  14. ↑ Byrnes, Holly (26 September 2012). "Ex-Neighbours actress and Go Back presenter Imogen Bailey starts website Lessons Overboard to help asylum seekers". news.com.au (News Limited). Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  15. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 610. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  16. ↑ "The ARIA Report!" (PDF) (706). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). 1 September 2003. pp. 4, 13, 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 Oct 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Imogen Bailey | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "Hurricane Healing". Hurricane Healing (Blue Pie). Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  19. ↑ Priestley, Andrew (21 August 2013). "Imogen Bailey joins John Jarratt and Hunters and Collectors frontman Mark Seymour to change thinking on asylum seekers". Manly Daily. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Protesters ruffle a few feathers". The New Zealand Herald. Reuters. 23 February 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  21. ↑ "Causes: Caged fury". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). 2 March 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  22. ↑ "Imogen Bailey’s New Site". People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). 7 December 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  23. ↑ Dingwall, John (June 2003). "Move Over Kylie". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 15 June 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  24. ↑ "Neighbours‍ '​ star discusses anorexia battle". Digital Spy. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Bailey's battle". ninemsn.com.au. Retrieved 6 October 2014.

External links